Boston Library Cancels 'Trans Period Pride' Event After Taxpayer Backlash
The Boston Public Library canceled a taxpayer-funded event about trans menstruators after conservative media coverage sparked public outcry, even as the city faces a $100 million budget shortfall.
The Boston Public Library canceled a taxpayer-funded event on "trans menstruators" after conservative media coverage ignited public backlash, raising fresh questions about how public institutions spend money while Boston faces a $100 million budget crisis.
The library's online listing for the June 17 event at the Copley Branch now simply reads "This event is canceled." A BPL spokesperson confirmed the gathering was "booked by an external organization and has been rescheduled to a different location." Mass NOW, the event organizer, says it has secured a new venue and is finalizing a security plan.
Boston's financial strain makes the controversy all the sharper. The city and Boston Public Schools together face a combined $100 million budget shortfall for FY26. Property taxes jumped 13 percent in 2026, following a 10.4 percent increase the year before. In April, the Boston City Council voted 8-4 to defeat a resolution calling for an independent audit of city finances.
City spending on LGBTQ+ initiatives continues alongside those cuts. The Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement received $920,702 in taxpayer funding for FY26, with a proposed FY27 budget of $637,208. Mass NOW received a grant through the MOLA Beyond Pride Grant Program in 2025. The MA Trans Political Coalition and BAGLY also received MOLA funding. Mayor Wu's office did not respond to inquiries about whether city funds are supporting this specific event.
The third annual "Trans Period Pride" was billed as a "consciousness-raising discussion on menstrual equity and the experiences of trans menstruators." Attendees were promised a catered dinner and free period underwear. Promotional graphics displayed the pink and blue colors of the transgender pride flag.
Libs of TikTok amplified the event across X with nearly a million views and thousands of comments. Fox News, the Daily Mail, the Washington Times, and the New York Post followed with coverage. Mass NOW switched off comments on Instagram promotional posts after the media attention.
Mass NOW executive director Sasha Goodfriend told Them magazine that critics are "extremist voices" trying to "shame, erase, and isolate transgender people." She insisted the event is "continuing" at a new location. Goodfriend did not respond to inquiries from the Boston Herald, Mass Daily News, or the BPL. She did not address why Instagram comments were turned off or publish an event budget.
The BPL is simultaneously scheduling 19 drag queen story hours for children during Pride Month, most performed by drag artist "Ms. Patty" targeting ages 18 months to 5 years. In April, Outnewcomers returned $7,500 in city grant funding for LGBTQ+ migrant "wellness" vouchers after backlash, citing "death threats" and threats of ICE reports.
City Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy sent a letter to Mayor Wu questioning how funding for core services was being reduced while new discretionary LGBTQ initiatives continued. "We are deeply concerned that funding supporting core services, including mental health supports for older adults and youth employment opportunities, has reportedly been reduced or eliminated while new discretionary funding initiatives continue to be actively promoted," they wrote.
C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, told the Boston Herald that "having such depraved events hosted by public libraries sends a clear message to anyone who holds traditional moral beliefs – faithful Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, Orthodox Jews and others – that they are now second-class citizens in Boston." He added that their views and values are "not only irrelevant to the City of Boston, but, apparently, so bigoted and benighted that they must be publicly repudiated at taxpayer-supported institutions."
The BPL has not disclosed whether it initiated the cancellation or did so at the organizers' request. Mayor Wu's office has not confirmed or denied whether city funds will support the relocated event. Without the oversight the city council rejected, the pattern of using taxpayer-funded institutions for ideological programming will continue, leaving everyday Bostonians to foot the bill while their core services wither.